Qualifying in the Heat of Iowa
Standing out in the heat for qualifying was not for the weary. My phone said it was 88°, but to me it felt closer to 98°. I’m not complaining, mind you. A hot day at the track is better than a hot day at the pool any day.
It started with a run by Jack Harvey, and it ended with a run by Jack Harvey. Confused? There were a few issues with the hybrid deployment on several cars, but to my knowledge – Harvey was the only one to make a second and third run. Ultimately he will start nineteenth in Race One tonight, and eighteenth on Sunday. That is, if he can drive. The back problems that haunted him at Mid-Ohio have followed him to Iowa. There are rumors that Conor Daly could sub for him in either race if Harvey can’t go.
At the front of the field, tonight it will be Colton Herta on the pole. He wheeled his Honda-powered Dallara around the 7/8-mile oval at a speed of 187.655 mph to lead all drivers on their first lap. Scott McLaughlin had the fastest lap of the day, and his Chevy will start on pole tomorrow at a speed of 188.248.
McLaughlin will also start second tonight followed by Alex Palou, Will Power and Scott Dixon. In Sunday’s race, points leader Alex Palou will start second. Dixon, Herta and Felix Rosenqvist will round out the Top-Five.
Two-time defending champion and winner of three of the last four at Iowa, Josef Newgarden, starts twenty-second in Race One, and fourteenth in Race Two. I picked him to win one of the races. Will Power was my other choice. Power qualified fourth for tonight’s race, but will start twenty-third in Race Two.
They weren’t the only ones with large discrepancies in their speeds. Santino Ferrucci qualified eighth for tonight, but will start twentieth tomorrow. Marcus Armstrong will start ninth in Race One, but brushed the wall on his second lap and will start twenty-sixth in Race Two on Sunday. Ouch!
There was a long delay near the end of qualifying, regarding the hybrid systems on some of the cars. If you watched qualifying on Peacock, you probably know more than I do as I type. Finally Jack Harvey did his third run, and that brought qualifying to an anti-climactic end. The delay also delayed the Luke Combs stage from being pulled out. It was about twenty minutes late, before they finally started wheeling it out.
Susan is out there near the front of the stage dancing away, while I am enjoying the air-conditioning and typing. The bass is absolutely shaking the entire media center, It’s like living with a teenager. But I am wrapping up here, and will go out and join her.
The race starts just after 7:00 pm CDT on Big NBC. I will be back here after the race to do a quick wrap-up for the evening. It will be a quick turnaround for Race Two tomorrow morning and do it all again. Check back here after the race. Here are some of Susan’s photos from qualifying.
Enjoy the race everyone!
George Phillips
Oilpressure 
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